Proverbs, book of

A collection of pithy sayings and moral advice for the instruction of the young, traditionally ascribed to Solomon, the archetypal wise man, and certainly chs. 10–31 seem to have been compiled before the Exile, though in its final form, with chs. 1–9, the book dates from the post-exilic period. It is written in poetic form—that is, with regular patterns and vivid images—and emanates from a fairly established group in society such as the royal court, anxious to maintain stability and tradition, though much advice is addressed to quite humble families and local communities. These teachers of the Wisdom School were sometimes in conflict with the more radical proclamations of the prophets (Jer. 9:23); they were from the same school as Ben Sirach and the author of Job and were intellectuals but not in the Greek tradition of speculative philosophers; Hebrew wisdom was exemplified in practical skills, knowledge about how best to manage one's life and about the purpose of life. Hence ‘wisdom’ came to be personified as an attribute of God (Prov. 8:22) and eventually the concept was available to the Church as it struggled with its Christology (Col. 2:3).